Tara Heath
Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel
The Boston Beer Company
Boston, MA
25+ years in the industry
If you had told me 30 years ago that I would become the Chief Legal Officer of Boston Beer, I would never have believed you. I studied biomedical engineering and took a temporary role submitting label approvals, answering trade practice questions and responding to consumer letters and phone calls while I figured out my next move. We were a young company, so I picked up tasks in operations and regulations, wherever needed help, even giving brewery tours on the weekends! With this introduction to business, I decided to pursue my MBA in the evening while working full time. With my ability to flex and adapt, Boston Beer saw my potential, supporting me as I then went to Law School and positioning me on some cool projects, from opening new taprooms to even that first launch of Utopias which came from one of my graduate school projects.
At Boston Beer, one of our key values is that we collaborate and innovate as coworkers because the status quo sucks. There is this misconception that my department exists to shut down ideas, but really, we want to be involved in the conversation to create unique paths that foster this innovation, pushing the bounds of what any of us thought was possible. And, Boston Beer has certainly done just that!
